5 Stops
by Stacy O'Rye
Summary: Amu is pregnant and lives happily with Ikuto. But what is this strange feeling that resides with her?


There was a hard knock from outside. The person sounded impatient but Amu didn't want to move from her bed. Hail hit the rooftops violently, making it sound like a thunder might come with it any moment. Her bedroom was at the very front, which meant that with an open door, she had a very good view of the front one. She blinked idly.

There was a second of silence and suddenly she heard a zipping sound coming from the doorknob. The person other side had a key. She could feel goosebumps on her arm and tried to move her body to at least hide in a closet. The door swung open.

"Amu?" She froze. Blue, messy hair and sharp, purple eyes. It was her husband, Ikuto. Her mind must've blanked out for a second. There was an annoying pang at the back of her mind but she pushed it away.

"Ah..sorry!" she apologized. He walked over to their room and felt her forehead.

"You okay?" She nodded her head.

"Have you been having nightmares again?" Ikuto asked, in a worry tone as he propped his violin to the side. Memories of her last night's dream made her shudder.

"N-no," she said quickly looking away. Damn. She had always been a terrible liar.

"Amu.."

"Fine. Okay, I have. There, now what?" she kicked some sheets on the bed. Her stomach was large as ever. It won't be long before the big day.

"What's it about?"

"Why do you want to know? What would you do if curiosity killed the cat" she didn't want to tell him.

"That'd be one interesting story." Amu sighed, and turned her back against him.

"You get into a car crash and die, leaving me alone. The End," she said quickly, trying to act as if it didn't bother her the slightest.

"A pretty cliché ending for a drama, if you ask me. I've been in loads of car accidents, they need to fix the roads around here and there are those crazy drunk drivers that are on the rise. Don't be bothered by it, you probably saw something on the news that happened. Or a drama," he said with a unconcerned shrug.

"Anyone can be bothered by this! I felt the emotions it felt so real..." she said her voice getting fainter by the word, she closed her eyes tightly. Suddenly she could feel his chin resting on her head and his arms wrapped around her neck.

"I'm a cat with nine extended lives, there's no way I'll just drop dead. You're stressing way too much. Breathe, Amu." She did as she was told. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. "Man, you sound like you're having a baby this second. Was it really that bad?" the pressure from her chin was gone and instead Ikuto had jumped on the couch beside her. Amu tried to slap him on the arm but missed.

"Shut up, don't underestimate child birth," she grinned. "Just two, okay?" she said as she leaned over to give him a kiss. "You're probably right though. Especially because you've just been in a accident recently. I can't believe the bus just rammed into that truck," she cringed. "I'm actually kinda curious though. You said that you had a reassuring thought when you were between the squished seats, broken window and sharp metal upon you at the hospital. What was it?"

"'I'm all ready for childbirth'," he said seriously. Amu blinked.

"Of all the things you could've been thinking, you were thinking of the pain of giving a birth to a child you'll never have to experience? You were on the verge of death for heaven's sake! Couldn't you find something more practical to think of?" she shrieked. Ikuto smirked.

"Well, I didn't think I was going to die so I didn't make my farewells or anything and instead pain somehow reminded me of that morning when you were telling me that you broke the weight scales and that you better write your will."

"You got angry when I said that. So I guess my complaints got to you, eh?" she grinned. "Crushed bones and stuff probably do make up a living baby coming out, I guess."

She held his hand tightly. Warm and loving. They stayed like this for several minutes with complete silence.

"I'll be going first, okay?" Ikuto suddenly broke the silence. She felt the strange tugging in her heart feel stronger. If she hadn't just misheard, but his voice had just shook. That rarely happened. He wasn't his normal self. But what seemed like "rarely" a second ago "seemed to be quite often these days" now.

He stood up and teetered towards the door, picked up his violin and continued his way to the front door. Amu could feel her heart become cold. He had been her fire, amongst her dark memories, a spark of something like magic had grown. He had been her guiding lantern, if he left, she would definitely be lost and be engulfed with madness of reality. Just like she almost had been before her knight on his white horse had came around.

"Ikuto?" she called desperately, trying to untangle herself from the sheets. He didn't answer but she could hear his feet drag against the carpet. He didn't want to leave. He opened the door and without a backward glance, he closed the door behind him. She stopped struggling and simply kneeled on the bed. Her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't fool herself any longer. Like him, she too knew what this all was. Her recurring dream was reality.

"No one can survive a blown up bus. Even a cat with nine lives," Amu said in a matter-o-fact tone to the lousy tombstone. "That's the fifth time, Ikuto," Amu smiled as she sat on top of the cracking fall leaves. She looked at the shiny words on the grave. "5 times you've came to see me in my dreams but it has been 6 times you have left me. Sometimes I wish I can sleep forever, so I can be with you, but that would be taking the easy way out, right?" The howling wind answered her. She moved her feet a little and looked at the dreary words that spelled out her lover's name. "Only 3 months left. 3 months and a boy that looks just like you will be here with me. Look forward to it," she grinned. Her eyes felt watery. Her nose, completely clogged. Amu sighed and stood up.

"I'll be fine. I'm Amu, you lover after all, don't underestimate me," she said, trying to sound as clear and reassuring as possible. She turned to leave. "Please don't come back. Rest in peace. I love you."

* * *

I always start with Amu the dying and always end up with Ikuto the actually killed one. *Sigh* /goes back to doing math problems


End file.
